SharePoint drives $A3.8M Hansard overhaul

July 22, 2009:Australian software developer Oconics has won a 6½ year, $A3.8 million contract to redevelop and support the Hansard system that publishes proceedings of the Australian Federal Parliament, utilising SharePoint and Microsoft Office 2007 technology.

Founded in 2004, Oconics has undertaken software development projects for major clients including the Parliament of South Australia, SA Water and the NSW Department of Commerce.

The contract with the Department of Parliamentary Services, which runs until October 2015, requires Oconics to provide five years of support once the new system is delivered by the end of 2010. Hansard decided to overhaul its core business system due to concern that the 10-year-old system had become expensive to maintain and cumbersome to use.

Oconics CEO Jonathan Ruckert said the Commonwealth Parliament Hansard contract had created greater visibility for Oconics in Canberra. “We are already discussing work with other Federal Government agencies,” he said.

“We have experience in developing systems that integrate disparate systems and improve employee efficiency by automating business processes. One such system was the Hansard system that publishes records for the South Australian Parliament on the web. However, this project will be a much more complex and integrated project.”

Hansard produces transcripts of parliamentary proceedings for the Senate and the House of Representatives which are available on the Internet at http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au each morning after a sitting day. In addition, Hansard produces committee transcripts which also are available online.

This redevelopment will provide all Hansard staff with Web 2.0 interfaces to the data whether they are in Microsoft Word or on the Web. This will give them easier access to information and streamline the workflows required to produce a document. It will also reduce manual interactions and swapping between unconnected systems, allowing fewer errors and producing more accurate record-keeping.